Vaucluse Dreamer

I currently live in a stunning village that nestles on the side of Dartmoor just inside the National Park. I realise that I am very lucky, in that we have an incredible community with lots going on from a Community Cafe & Cricket Club through to regular Pilates (a twice weekly beasting by a great local instructor who visits the Village Hall) and a much gentler de-stressing yoga group (which inevitably ends with the gentle sound of snoring from many who attend). On top of that there is the Ladies’ Club, the Art Club, the Gardening Club, the Drama group and a Youth Club – something for everyone in fact…..

We also have the whole expanse of Dartmoor literally on the doorstep and walks to die for, which take us straight onto the moor away from any signs of development, where you can sit and listen to the skylarks high above, watching the light change the shadows on the moor. The sheep, cows and ponies (who are the hardiest animals I have ever seen) wander around the vilage, hunting for any opportunity to force entry to a garden, where they can tenderly nibble flowers and neatly trimmed bushes, before they are discovered and chased out back onto the village green.

Our dogs are in heaven, not only are the walks lovely, but there are plenty of squirrels to chase and streams to lie in – let alone the delight of being able to constantly eat a whole range of newly depositied poo – lamb and foal poo certainly are a delicacy, particularly for 2 greedy Retrievers.

To be honest I could write a blog about the village and everything that happens here as I am sure it would  be of interest and I may share some of the local happenings……  but I can’t help it – my mind is more often than not wandering off to the bright colours and incredible scents of Provence and the older I get the more I want to be there. As someone said to me last week – it is an itch that I need to scratch and the itch is getting more severe.

Luckily my husband is of the same mind and he manages to organise things in such a way that we try to head to the Luberon at least 3 times a year and for many years we have mused about whether we could make the leap and move there, finally being able to immerse ourselves in everything that we love, however we have always found a reason not to (usually financial!!).

Things though  finally came to a head yesterday when he went for a cycle whilst my eldest sat one of his GCSEs – to say it rained a bit was an understatement – I don’t think he could have got any wetter if he had cycled up and down a swimming pool ( which probably would have been warmer). This was the second time in a week that has happened and it proved the tipping point, especially after looking at the weather in Avignon (a balmy 22 degrees) and after a long chat last night we decided that we need to look at how we can make the move. We can’t do it now (however much we would like to) as our 2 boys are at critical points in their education, but 5 years time we should be able to do it and make the leap we have wanted to make since we first visited the area over 20 years ago.

But in the meantime I will keep my mind on the area and use the blog to post about the things we love about the Luberon, hoping perhaps someone may read it, but above all it will give me an outlet for my thoughts whilst we wait to head to the sun.